1. Field
The present invention relates to the field of automated medicament dispensing systems. More particularly, the invention relates to an automated apparatus and method for applying labels to vials.
2. Related Art
In the field of automated medicament dispensing systems, a vial is automatically filled with pills or other medicaments and presented without a label thereon to a pharmacist. A printer dispenses an adhesive label with the associated prescription or instructions thereon to the pharmacist for manual application of the label to the vial. When a plurality of orders are to be processed, filled vials are presented in sequence and the corresponding labels are dispensed in sequence.
Difficulties can arise, for example, if the printer malfunctions. In this situation, the sequence of reprinted labels can be confused leading to the risk of applying the wrong label to a vial. Similarly, if the vial filling mechanism malfunctions, the sequence of vials for labeling can also become confused, again leading to the risk of a mislabeled vial.
Automated medicine vial labelers have largely overcome these problems for cylindrical-shaped vials of various sizes. Such labelers generally wrap a label around a vial by placing an outer surface of the vial in contact with an adhesive side of the label and rotating the vial. However, in some instances, it is desirable to use non-cylindrical-shaped vials, such as vials with substantially oval cross-sections or rectangular cross-sections. These non-cylindrical-shaped vials may make the vial easily distinguishable from other vials, present a larger surface area for the label, etc. For example, some vials may have a front face, a back face, and two side faces. Unlike cylindrical-shaped vials, the location of the label on non-cylindrical-shaped vials is important, so that when each vial is facing the same direction, the same part of the label may be visible to the pharmacist or patient. Automated medicine vial labelers for cylindrical-shaped vials are unsuitable for non-cylindrical-shaped vials because they merely wrap the label around the vial without consideration for the orientation of a front, back, or side of the vial.
Accordingly, there is a need for an automated apparatus and method for labeling vials that overcomes the limits of the prior art.